Battle Fader has been seeing play in several different Deck types, but few can use it as effectively as Anthony Kelly’s Fader Salvo Deck. Kelly uses Battle Fader to stop his opponent in his tracks, and then puts it to use once his next turn begins. With 3 copies of Dimensional Alchemist in his Deck, Kelly can recycle his Battle Fader to repeat his Deck’s best combos, including the Summon of powerful Level 8 Synchro Summons using Black Salvo as the Tuner.

Monsters:
3x Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive
3x Battle Fader
3x Dimensional Alchemist
2x Cyber Dragon
2x Cyber Valley
2x Black Salvo
2x Caius the Shadow Monarch
1x Plaguespreader Zombie
1x Chaos Sorcerer
1x Dark Armed Dragon
1x Sangan
1x Gorz the Emissary of Darkness

Spells:
3x Book of Moon
1x Brain Control
1x Mind Control
1x Scapegoat
1x Heavy Storm
1x Gold Sarcophagus
1x Mystical Space Typhoon
1x Allure of Darkness

Traps:
2x Bottomless Trap Hole
2x Dimensional Prison
1x Torrential Tribute
1x Mirror Force
1x Starlight Road
1x Solemn Judgment
1x Dust Tornado

Battle Fader is able to cut short the Battle Phase of Kelly’s opponents and then Special Summon itself to the field. With 2 copies of Caius the Shadow Monarch, 2 copies of Cyber Valley, and 2 copies of Black Salvo in his Deck, Kelly can use Battle Fader for a Tribute Summon, remove it from the game to draw cards, or Tune it in a Synchro Summon.

Black Salvo, a Level 3 Tuner monster, can Special Summon Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, a Level 4 non-Tuner monster, as soon as it’s Summoned. Duelists in the past have used these 2 cards in combination to Synchro Summon the Level 7 Black Rose Dragon with ease. But Kelly’s Deck takes it one step further. Since Battle Fader is a Level 1 monster that’s easy to get onto the field, he can add it to the Synchro Summon to make a Level 8 monster instead.

Since Battle Fader is the heart of Kelly’s Deck, he wanted to find a way to reuse its effect. Battle Fader gets removed from play as soon as it leaves the field, letting Kelly use his Dimensional Alchemist to return it to his hand. That means Kelly can use the effect of Battle Fader as many as six times in a Duel! But the usefulness of Dimensional Alchemist doesn’t end there. It’s able to bring back any removed from play monster. With Duelists everywhere running cards like Bottomless Trap Hole and Dimensional Prison to remove their opponent’s monsters from play, Kelly will usually have a lot of options to return to his hand when his Dimensional Alchemist is destroyed.

“It can also return useful monsters removed by cards like Allure of Darkness, Chaos Sorcerer, or Dark Armed Dragon,” Kelly explained. “It really keeps the Deck running, and makes it stable by letting me bring back the monsters I need.” With some help from Dimensional Alchemist, Kelly is able to reuse even his strongest monsters, including Dark Armed Dragon, Gorz the Emissary of Darkness, and Chaos Sorcerer. He can also use it to return Cyber Valley to his hand, since Cyber Valley gets removed from the game as soon as it’s attacked. Because Dimensional Alchemist can remove the top card of Kelly’s Deck from the game each turn, he can use also use the effect of his Alchemist to speed through his Deck and build up a removed from play pile to retrieve monsters from.

In addition to the cool combos his Deck can make involving Battle Fader, Black Salvo, and Dimensional Alchemist, Kelly’s Deck is able to leave Kelly with more cards than his opponent thanks to the effects of his monsters. Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive gives Kelly an extra card when it’s flipped face-up. Then, he can use it in a Synchro Summon or Tribute it for Caius, clearing out his opponent’s cards or forcing his opponent to take action. Like Battle Fader, he can also remove it from play with Cyber Valley to draw additional cards that will help overwhelm his opponent.

Kelly uses Brain Control and Mind Control too, to set up the Summons of strong monsters or steal his opponents’ monsters to remove from play with the effect of Cyber Valley. Scapegoat is also of notable utility in Kelly’s Deck. In addition to just blocking attacks, the Level 1 Sheep Tokens it Special Summons to the field can be used in Synchro Summons or removed from play with Cyber Valley to let Kelly draw 2 more cards.

In addition to his solid Monster Card and Spell Card line-up, Kelly is using a bunch of Trap Cards that can slowly deprive his opponent of options. Bottomless Trap Hole, Dimensional Prison, Torrential Tribute, Mirror Force, and Dust Tornado allow Kelly to gradually take down his opponent’s cards throughout the Duel, while he draws even more ways to restrict his opponent’s plays or Summon a monster his opponent can’t deal with.

Anthony Kelly’s Fader Salvo Deck shows a lot of promise in this tournament and may be a top competitor in the future. Few Duelists are prepared to face this new Deck. That may give Kelly the edge he needs to make it to the Top 32.